Tag Archives: Ryan Severance

Editor’s Note: This is the third in a three-part series about Ohio’s heroin crisis. A symptom of a larger disease, opioid abuse and pharmaceutical abuse have ravaged the Midwest — and people are finally waking up to it. The path out of addiction twists and turns, and it is littered with obstacles. The National Institute on Drug Abuse puts …

In the rocky world of foreign policy, building global relationships is a necessary precursor to success. It’s time, then, to stop viewing USAID as valueless charity and instead recognize it for what it is: a wise and principled investment. The Trump Administration has signaled that USAID is on its way to the chopping block. The State Department and foreign aid is expected …

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a three-part series about Ohio’s heroin crisis. A symptom of a larger disease, opioid abuse and pharmaceutical abuse have ravaged the Midwest — and people are finally waking up to it. Opioids have ravaged families and communities with increasing frequency over the past few years, as Southeast Ohio has witnessed first-hand. Ironically, one …

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a three-part series about Ohio’s heroin crisis. A symptom of a larger disease, opioid abuse and pharmaceutical abuse have ravaged the Midwest — and people are finally waking up to it. Ohio: where a state in the throes of addiction experienced a staggering 13 percent increase in opioid overdoses just from 2014 to …

The United States struck the Shyrat Air Base in Syria with 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles following the Assad regime’s barbaric gassing of civilians, including children. The move was a long-overdue response to the repeated atrocities committed by Bashar al-Assad’s regime and should be received as a welcomed attempt to maintain the international norm against chemical weapons While the Trump administration’s …

New drilling wells may dot the landscape of Monroe County following a $5.2 million bid in March for the rights to explore and drill for oil and gas on 1,180 acres of land in the Wayne National Forest. The Wayne National Forest, which covers over a quarter million acres of Appalachia, has seen such bids before; the U.S. Bureau of …

Congress recently sparked an uproar with the passage of S.J. Res. 34, better known as the act which enables internet service providers to sell customer data and browsing history at a scale never before seen. The bill is likely to become law, especially now that President Trump has voiced his support of it. The key facet of the bill is …

President Trump released his budget proposal a few weeks ago, detailing what he calls his “Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again.” One of his first steps in doing so is cutting funding to the Appalachian Regional Commission, an entity charged with economic development and innovation in Appalachia. Such a cut is a leap in the wrong direction; to make …

North Korea is none too pleased by the United States’ response to its latest illegal missile test; the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system (THAAD) to South Korea drew a near-instant heated response from Pyongyang. Deploying the system was a wise choice on behalf of the U.S. administration. It is more obvious now than ever that …

“FAKE NEWS!” We’ve all heard it before; from the mouths of our friends, from fact checkers, and, of course, from the president of the United States’ Twitter account. These days, one can’t escape claims of hoaxes, fiction and falsehoods — but in trying to stomp out the blaze of fake news, are we in the press succeeding only in further …

Montgomery County in Southwest Ohio has seen a staggering increase in fatal overdoses since the start of 2017 — an influx so severe the county coroner’s office briefly ran out of room for additional bodies. “I have not experienced anything like this in my career,” said Montgomery County Coroner’s Office Director Ken Betz, who noted the office sent the extra …

In her short tenure as counselor to President Donald Trump, former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway has repeatedly raised eyebrows for her reliance on “alternative facts” and the dissemination of hoaxes. She has also raised serious questions about the administration’s transparency and operational effectiveness, often touting the administration’s narrative on morning TV shows only to be refuted by the president himself …

President Donald Trump made history last Tuesday when he nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. The nomination was the fulfillment of a major campaign promise and comes as a rousing victory for constitutional originalists. Looking beyond the flashy headlines and fierce (but typical) conservative-versus-liberal debate, we can come to see Gorsuch is a man of outstanding moral character …

President Donald Trump shared a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, their first contact with Trump in his official capacity as president. The political bromance between the two was sparked much earlier, however, and poses a grave threat to U.S. interest. While the call shared between the two leaders is of little importance by itself — it …

The Dakota Access Pipeline has been making headlines recently, with protestors from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and their supporters vehemently opposing the project on cultural and legal grounds. The simplified narrative being spun by mainstream media and the protestors, however, has frequently omitted some key facts. The protesters complaints rest on four key points: that the project was authorized …

Donald Trump made history Tuesday night, blasting through the speculation and past the punditry to become the 45th president of the United States — and he did so fairly easily. For his opponents feeling downtrodden, I can only suggest you learn to be resilient, for now comes the hard part. Democrats, who mere days ago enjoyed haughty projections of coasting …

As millions of voters go to the polls on Nov. 8 to decide America’s next president, many are unwittingly breaking the law with their ballot selfies. A long-standing prohibition on showing a person’s ballot with “apparent intention” of who they are voting for prohibits photos with a marked ballot, thus making the much beloved ballot selfie a fifth-degree felony. In …

The political world shook last week when FBI Director James Comey announced the agency would be reopening its investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email server a mere 11 days before the election. Since then, the fierce world of punditry has erupted in both conservative jubilation and liberal fury, and a fiercer debate over the emails has reignited in the background. Amid …

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced the formation of an Advisory Group on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) last Thursday. The creation of the drone advisory group, which is charged with creating a policy model for law enforcement officers using UAS, follows a recent police-downing of a drone amid protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline. The 10-member group is headed by …

It is natural in the course of an election to debate the finer merits and policy details the presidential candidates put forth before the American people. This year, however, the universal castigation free trade has suffered at the hands of both major party candidates is unprecedented — and particularly underserved. Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have been vocal critics …

Two recent appointments to the Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee have raised concerns with pro-marijuana advocates regarding the board’s fairness. The appointments of Tony Coder and Marcie Seidel, both of the Drug Free Action Alliance, follow Ohio’s recent legalization of medical marijuana in September. As the Drug Free Action Alliance has fought legalization efforts in the past, the move to appoint …

Donald Trump has seen better days – and so has our democracy. After his opponent Hillary Clinton surged in the polls following the publication of his lewd remarks regarding women 11 years ago, Mr. Trump has adopted a strategy of total war. This salt-the-earth tactic includes denying the validity of the polls, the testimony of experts and even calls into …

Crime victim service providers across Ohio will be receiving approximately $79.5 million from Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office to better facilitate their efforts in helping victims of crime. The funds will be distributed among 365 different providers across Ohio that deal with issues ranging from child abuse to human trafficking. Some of the funds from the Ohio Attorney Generals Expanding …

On Sept. 27, Elon Musk tantalized the world with his vision of placing a human being on the surface of Mars. His company SpaceX had previously made headlines not even a month before, after its Falcon 9 rocket exploded during preparation on the launch pad. In light of both these events and the media maelstrom that engulfed it, the great …

Americans spend a lot on health care. So much so, in fact, that in 2014 the United States spent nearly 18 percent of its gross domestic product on healthcare, almost double the global 10 percent average. This is largely a result of Americans spending more on specialist and on special procedures, though rapid growth in hospital admissions and cuts to …

The recent revelation that Donald Trump may not have paid income taxes for nearly a decade comes as a shock – but it shouldn’t. For months, Trump has successfully dodged the responsibility typically endowed on our presidential nominees to release their tax information to the American public so voters may know of any conflict of interest. More so than ever …

When it comes to combating gun violence, one state senator has taken his plea directly to parents. Sen. Cecil Thomas, D-Cincinnati, urged parents to throw out realistic-looking toy weapons, saying children cannot possibly understand the risk of playing with them. “I am making a plea for parents and guardians to throw away children’s toys that resemble real weapons,” a statement …

The recent clash between lawmakers and the White House regarding the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) has many angered at President Barack Obama and, more specifically, his use of the presidential veto to negate the passage of said bill. I am seldom one to defend the president’s policy decisions, doubly so when it comes to foreign policy. Yet …

Hillary Clinton supporters have been grinding their teeth lately, and for good reason: As the former Secretary of State’s lead has evaporated in recent days following an unfavorable news cycle, Donald Trump’s chances of winning 270 electoral votes come November seem better than ever. Yet before either party begins celebrating its impending triumph (or tearing its hair out over defeat), …

The Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission (OOCIC) bolstered efforts to combat human trafficking in the Buckeye State last Friday after announcing the creation of a task force aimed toward fighting trafficking in the Mahoning Valley. The OOCIC task force will target human traffickers in the area in an attempt to increase the amount of human trafficking investigations and arrests, according …

Gary Johnson has seen better days. After stumbling over a basic foreign policy question regarding the ongoing refugee crisis, Johnson’s campaign went through the media gauntlet, enduring harsh criticism and questions of whether he was prepared for the presidency. Coupled with his low polling numbers and the reality that he most likely won’t make the debate stage on Sept. 26, …

Medical marijuana enthusiasts in the Buckeye State have a reason to celebrate this week: House Bill 523 will go into effect Sept. 8, ushering in a new era of medicinal cannabis use in Ohio. The bill authorizes the use of medicinal cannabis for Ohioans who meet the qualifying standards; some qualifying medical conditions include cancer, AIDS, and Parkinson’s disease. Patients …

In the age of globalized communications, it’s often easy to overlook just how isolated our media sources are. With the rise of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter and the continued dominance of the mass media by well-equipped corporations such as CNN and 21st Century Fox, one might assume that the breadth of options available for your typical …

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The New Political is an award-winning, independent publication run entirely by Ohio University students. A digital-first outlet, it is solely dedicated to covering politics and government on campus, in the city of Athens and in the state of Ohio. The New Political seeks to educate and empower the public as an independent voice for Athens.